Metal meets the message at Andrews concert

Rich Lopez | jrlopez@mrt.com

Published 4:38 am, Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Youth ministry What Yeshua Can Do has brought in Christian music heavyweights like MercyMe and Switchfoot to the West Texas town of Andrews. But the ministry goes way hard with its next show. Heavy rock bands Demon Hunter, RED and Veridia will headline the Andrews County Expo on Wednesday.

“This is by far the most outreach oriented concert we have done to date,” WYCD spokesman Brant Fricker said.

RED is touring in support of its 2013 album “Release the Panic” and its companion album “Release the Panic: Recalibrated.” Both Demon Hunter and Veridia are on the road for their 2014 albums “Extremist” and “Inseparable,” respectively.

While the lineup and music is extreme, the message is the same.

“In the end we’re all striving to snatch children out of the fire and impact this generation for the Kingdom of God,” Fricker said.

Mixing hard rock and Christian might come off as a oxymoron. The genre tends to defy authority, but each band has churned out gritty rock that gets their message across. And yet the sensibilities behind the genre are fully present in each of their work.

The intersection of heavy metal and a Christian message is made more than feasible by the RED, Demon Hunter and Veridia.